The Power of Fate (The Triad Series Book 5) (2 page)

“The Etruscans are definitely getting bolder.”

“And we’re going to have to consider what to do about that on a larger scale soon. No one wants an outright war, but these acts of aggression are getting out of hand.”

“Agreed, sir.”

“The mission we are about to undertake is twofold. There is a diplomatic side where our ambassador is going to lay it on the line to the Etruscans, and there is a ‘fact gathering’ element. While I’m facing off with the Etruscans and trying to keep my temper, you and your team will be assessing the Etruscan moon. We’ve never been close enough to get a good sense of it before, let alone been allowed on the surface, and it could be strategically important if we do end up at war.”

“Understood.”

“You will be discreet and invisible.”

“Aren’t I always, sir?”

His smile was more like his old self. “I’m relying on that. Be careful, Jong.”

Chapter 2

Mya paused at the edge of the clearing to reset her position. Her headset registered a single click from each of the other three team members. They were only communicating telepathically when absolutely necessary, because the Etruscans did have some trained telepaths in their military.

She gazed down at the entrance to an unknown structure set beneath a small rise in the ground and then scanned the maps Major Esca had sent her. The buildings weren’t marked—although there was some kind of residence noted on the other side of the forest, which was within the same land boundary. She couldn’t decide if the building was military or not, but it did appear to be guarded.

The cracking sound of a twig behind her was all the warning she got before something hit her from behind and sent her crashing forward into the undergrowth.

“You are awake.”

Mya cautiously opened one eye and found she was sitting on her ass with her back propped against the wall of a small cell. There was a man dressed in the uniform of the Etruscan Imperial Guard sitting on a chair in front of her, which couldn’t be good. She tried to lick her lips, aware that her head was throbbing and that she was thirsty.

“Captain Jong, isn’t it?” The officer’s contemptuous gaze swept over her. “I’ve heard about telepathic mutants on your planet with colored skin. I never realized they’d let you into their
military
. I suppose, knowing the immoral nature of their telepathic society, they probably think it’s being progressive.”

“Why am I here?”

The man’s smile wasn’t reassuring. “You’ll find out.”

“If I am a prisoner, I request you inform either the Pavlovan embassy or my military command.”

“You can request anything you like, mutant.”

Mya struggled to her feet. “Space protocol in this system allows for the exchange of basic information about prisoners between planetary nations. I ask that you follow convention and do as I have requested.”

He sauntered over to her. “The thing is, Jong, you’re off the grid. No one knows you are here, and no one cares what happens to you while you are here. Get it?”

She refused to look away. “That is unacceptable. Military code—”

He slapped her face so hard that her head hit the wall behind her.

“Shut up, Jong.” He raised his voice. “Amar and Kane, get in here!” He grabbed Mya’s arm and pushed her toward the opening door. “Strip her and get her in there right now.”

She fought, but the two males were big and neither of them cared if they hurt her as they cut off her uniform, leaving her in her underwear. Just as she feared the worst, they stopped touching her and shoved her through another door, locking it behind her.

She sank down onto a soft floor and blinked at the sudden transformation. The space was painted cream and white and done up like a fancy hotel room. In the center of the room there was a bed containing a single occupant. Gathering her courage, she stood as some strange compulsion came over her to get closer to the still figure.

Telepath
.

Gods. The strongest one she had ever encountered. Even stronger than Senator Ash.

She moved closer, her bare feet making no sound on the spongy flooring, her breath the loudest thing in the room. The male drew her like a beam of light in the darkest, deepest tunnel. She could no more have turned away than ceased to exist.

He lay on his back, his blond head turned away from her. There were golden bands around his wrists and ankles and a collar around his neck. Apart from that, he was naked. He was one of the biggest men she had ever seen—his shoulders wide, his waist narrow and his legs going on forever.

Beautiful.

“Sir.” She cleared her throat. “I’m Captain Jong of the Pavlovan Special Forces, I—”

“Go away, Jong.” His voice was low and held no inflection. “There is nothing for you here.”

“But I want to help you, sir. We can help each other.”

“Then leave me alone.”

She shivered. “I don’t think I can.” His mind was extraordinary, the power emanating from him so immense that she wanted to warm herself in it.

“You’re a telepath, sir?” He didn’t answer her. She tried a thought. “
Telepath?”
And caught her breath as his mind repelled hers like broken shards of glass.

She waited another moment, but he continued to pretend she didn’t exist.

It took all her strength to retreat from his glorious power to the corner of the room as he’d requested. It was the only thing he’d asked her to do, and she had to respect that. Backing away, she refocused on the rest of her team, but something in her current environment kept bouncing her thoughts back to her. No wonder the Etruscan had seemed confident she wouldn’t be missed. The thing was, he didn’t know her team. Unless they found her body, they would never give up searching for her.

Or would they? This current mission was a covert one, and diplomatic relations between the two planets were extremely strained. Would Major Esca be prepared to go to war over her? Would she want him to? With a soft moan, she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes.

It didn’t seem more than a second passed before she was being dragged upright by Kane and Amar and marched over to the bed again. The obnoxious Etruscan officer was also there.

“Jong, you’re not cooperating.”

She set her jaw and simply stared him down.

“See this male? He needs fucking, and you’re going to do it.”

She refused to even answer that.

“You’re going to do it, Jong, and I’m going to vidscreen it for my superiors.” He nodded at her captors. “Hold her still.”

She gasped as he stuck her with a syringe, sending something hot rushing into her blood system. Her knees almost gave way as a curious roaring sensation thrummed through her body.

“Wow. How much did you give her, boss?” Amar’s voice sounded way too far away. “She’s a telepath. I wonder if they react differently?”

“We’ll find out. We could be in for a great show.”

She was lowered to the floor and left there while the men retreated, her mind scrabbling to make sense of the sparks exploding within her nervous system. Her whole body was convulsed in waves of heat almost as if she were ready to mate, but she’d prevented that with hormone-controlled shots. The imperative to mate and to breed was incredibly strong and hard to overcome. She couldn’t—

“Gods…” She curled up into a ball and started crawling back to her corner. If the male hadn’t wanted her to touch him earlier, he was not going to want her now when all her senses were alert and she wanted… Oh Gods, she wanted to fuck him senseless.

“Jong.”

Even his voice made her shiver with longing.

This was bad. This was
very
bad. She kept moving away from him.

“Captain Jong, listen to me. They’ve given you something to force you into a mating state.”

“No kidding,” she muttered through her clenched teeth. “It’s okay. I’ve got this. I’m staying in my corner just like you told me to do.”

“
Captain
.”

“Stop talking to me,” she hissed. Even his voice made her want him.

She reached the corner. If she turned around and caught even a glimpse of him, she might not be able to stop herself from launching her body on top of his and fucking him hard.

“I’m sorry.”

“Shut up!” she whispered and put her fingers in her ears. Yeah, that was going to work. She realized she was rocking back and forth just to ease the agony of need growing in her belly.

For a little while there was silence, and she let herself enjoy it. What would happen if she didn’t do what the Etruscan ordered? Would he give her another shot? She moaned and rocked harder, wrapping one arm around her breasts where her nipples were hard points and wedging one hand between her thighs.

“
Jong.”

“
No
.” Now
he wanted a telepathic link? Was he crazy?

“Come to me.”

“No. This isn’t your fault. I won’t use you.”

He sighed. “
They’ll hurt you. I can’t allow that.”

“Not your decision, sir.”
She tried to shut him out of her mind, but he was too powerful.

After a long while, the door opened again and Mya couldn’t help a whimper escaping her lips. The Etruscan officer came over and stared down at her. With a contemptuous smile, he grabbed her by the hair and hauled her to her feet, dragging her back toward the bed.

She could sense the telepath was fully awake now, his body humming with tension. His cock was hard and angling up toward his flat stomach.

“Look at her, telepath. She’s fucking gagging for it. The boss wants little baby Pavlovans, so get busy.”

“Leave her alone.”

“You have a choice, big boy. You fuck her, or we’ll all have her right here in front of you and then I’ll slit her throat and let her bleed out all over you.” He pinched Mya’s nipple hard and she flinched away, her gaze locking with the huge male on the bed whose eyes were the same color as his golden shackles.

A muscle flicked in his cheek. “Get out, Nevans.”

“Good choice, telepath.”

The Etruscan shoved Mya hard enough to make her sprawl on top of the male. The telepath brought up his hands to steady her hips. As soon as he touched her, she forgot everything but the feel of his flesh beneath her own, the hard steel of his cock lodged against her stomach.

“Oh Gods, I’m so
sorry,”
she panted. “I can’t seem to help myself.”

He stroked her hair. “It’s all right. It’s not your fault.” He didn’t seem to be able to stop touching her either, his hands roaming over her ass and hips, pressing her against his muscular frame and the hot stiffness of his shaft. “It’s been so long since I’ve been with my own kind. It’s—”

With a groan he found her mouth and kissed her, and she kissed him back. All her common sense was gone, only the need to have him inside her screamed through her head at the most basic, primitive level of need.

“
Yes
.”

He managed to unhook her bra one-handed and then ripped the seam of her panties, yanking them away from her sex as she reared over him and took him deep. Both of them screamed as his big cock worked its way inside her wet and willing sex. She started to come immediately, her body shuddering, demanding more even before the climax ended and getting it, getting every dirty, salacious thing she’d ever imagined a male giving her times ten.

She forgot her mission and her entire existence. Nothing else mattered but having him inside her and sharing his incredible mind. She actually wailed with disappointment when he started to withdraw because she wanted the incredible sensations to go on forever.

She collapsed over him, her mouth pressed to the pulse of his throat as he smoothed his hands over her bare skin. Eventually, she remembered how to breathe and raised her head to find her partner staring up at the ceiling.

Guilt consumed her and she struggled to completely disengage herself from him.

“Gods I’m so sorry—I can’t believe how I just behaved.”

“It was the drugs. You weren’t in control of your own body.”

He sounded flat and…defeated, and that made it even worse.

“I— You didn’t come.”

He suddenly turned toward her, his golden gaze intent. “What is your first name?”

“It’s Mya.”

“I am Rekk. I think. You are from the Hakron tribe, yes?”

She nodded and then shivered when he ran his finger down her arm.

“Your skin is beautiful.”

“Don’t.” She licked her lips. “Don’t touch me. I’m still not completely in control of my body.”

His smile was wry. “And you won’t be for three days. That’s the standard mating period for our kind isn’t it?”

“I’ve never had a mating period. I’m in the military.” She briefly closed her eyes. “Gods, I’m supposed to be finding a way to get us out of here, not thinking about fucking.”

“There isn’t a way out. I’ve tried everything.”

His quiet acceptance shook her to the core.

“There
has
to be. There are two of us now. We can combine our abilities and—”

He placed his finger over her mouth. “
Don’t talk. They are taping us.”
She felt like an even bigger fool than before.
“
If you wish to talk, do it while we’re fucking. If we keep fucking, they won’t interfere
.”

“
And what if we stop
?”

He grimaced. “
More hormone shots for both of us
.”

“
But why? How is this even happening?”

He rolled on top of her, and her brain forgot about speech again as he angled his hips and slid back inside her. He was still hard.

“
I can’t think when we’re doing this. Let alone plan an escape.”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“Can’t you ejaculate? That would buy us some recuperative time.”

“No. They like to keep me hard.”

She looked up into his golden eyes and saw nothing but resignation there. It was kind of humiliating that everything she was experiencing meant nothing to him. She reminded herself her feelings were an illusion, and that once she was out of her forced mating phase, she’d be as detached as he was.

But, for now, she couldn’t stop surrendering to all the sensations. His rock-hard body and big cock, the amazing power of his mind as it meshed with hers when she climaxed. If it were all a dream, she would never forget it. He kept the tempo slower this time, allowing her to breathe and attempt to order her scattered thoughts.